A Ten Second Car
by AcheronP
Summary: Brian's POV. My take on several of the bigger scenes in the movie, not so much around the Supra itself. Mostly circles around Brian's view of the way things went downhill during Race Wars. One-shot. Enjoy.


Hey, welcome to my first Fast and the Furious story. It's mainly a watered down version of the movie, but most of it circles around the scenes towards the end of the movie. I skipped over most scenes just to make this a one-shot and not a novelization of the movie.

It's from Brian's point of view. I took some artistic liberties with it so I hope it flows smoothly. Hope it's a good read for you.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything related to the Fast and the Furious. But if I did, I'd sure as hell be the one owning DK's Z. Hell yeah.

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_I owe you a ten second car…_

Looking back on how everything went down, I realized one thing. That line was one of the biggest pieces of bullshit I've ever said to anyone. But Dom bought into it, and that was all that mattered, especially to me. The wrecked Supra had an engine that almost made Jesse cry, and it lit a flash of fire in Dom's eyes.

It took me a second to not laugh, to keep the façade up. It should've been somewhat obvious to Dom that something was up. How was a guy like me gonna get a car, any car, even a wrecked former masterpiece like that Supra? Dom didn't question it and that was the start of how things went wrong. Gotta give the guy some credit. Once he saw that engine, he was probably thinking of adding another fast car to his crew. I can't blame him.

It was odd though, how familiar they'd all become to me. Dom, Letty, Jesse, Leon, hell even Vince. And then there was Mia. Damn. Rome would never let me live it down, how I let another female get to me, and yeah, she ended up getting me in trouble with Vince, but it was worth it. Besides, I could handle Vince.

Tanner had drilled me about not falling under. At the time, I'd shrugged it off. A little street racing, get in with the locals, take down some crooks, and I'd finally get my badge. That was all that had mattered.

And then I got behind the wheel of that Eclipse. It was exhilarating as shit to practice with it, but that was nothing compared to the actual experience of racing. At night. With nothing but tuners all around you. That race finished and I was caught up in it. I lost, but damn, I wanted to do it again.

I did end up racing again that night, and I ended up getting the Eclipse totaled by one Johnny Tran, who had a serious stick up his ass when it came to people drifting into his territory. Could've helped out only a lot if Dom had paid attention to where I was driving. I didn't know where I was going, that's for sure.

Even then I almost didn't see that I'd fallen hard. I fell for racing, ended up falling for the teamwork and family that Dom's crew extended towards me, and I sure as hell fell for Mia. Sometimes siblings end up looking a little like each other. Mia looked nothing like Dom. Thank God for that. Don't get me wrong, nothing bad with Dom, but he'd make one hell of an ugly chick.

Things went wrong at Race Wars. Really, really, _really_ fucking wrong. If I could've turned back time, I'd have stopped Jesse the second he said he was racing for slips. And seconds later when I saw Tran pull up his black S-2000 next to the Jetta, I sure as shit would've pulled Jesse from the car.

If Tran recognized me, it didn't show, but I _knew_ him. And something deep inside, call it cop instinct, knew that Tran was racing for revenge. Jesse was clearly the weak link on Dom's crew, and Tran was taking full advantage of it. Jesse might be a genius under the hood or behind a computer, but to me he didn't fire on all cylinders when he was behind the wheel. I know, not like I'm one to talk, but at least I've gotten beyond my so-called granny shifting.

_This will decimate all…_

The Supra was a masterpiece on four wheels, but it never got to show off at Race Wars. It was inevitable that Jesse would lose to Tran. Dom might have had a tab at Harry's, but Tran was hooked up. Jesse's VW had spunk, but Jesse had taken off too soon, and Tran just sat back and let him. Even I could see that. Would saving the spray for the last second have helped? I dunno, but I do know I should've stopped him.

I should've stopped him from getting in that damned car.

How did I get to feel like I needed to protect Jesse, just because Dom wasn't watching him? I don't know, but I did. Jesse needed looking after. He told me that he was racing for slips, just like I'd done. He'd strode off so confidently that it was _almost_ inspiring to see.

I mean, hell, I might have raced for slips, but damn…I_ lost!_

And so did Jesse. He freaked and took off. From the second I first saw him, Jesse reminded me of a rabbit: Quick, bright, but nervous as hell and twice as easy to startle. Tran was like a wolf in that black S-2000, just waiting to pounce on the little rabbit. Things _might_ have been different if Jesse had just handed over the VW. I doubt it though. Not after Tran went to see Dom to find Jesse.

Now, if Tran hadn't blown up on Dom in the middle of that huge crowd of people and accused Dom of calling the cops on him, maybe things could've been different. Getting to know Tran, I had to doubt it. First his home was raided, right in front of his whole family. Then Dom wailed on him in the middle of Race Wars, in front of hundreds of people. Shit. If you're gonna get hit, you don't want Dom being the one throwing the punches.

It gave me a sick feeling to see all of those people swarming around the fight and knowing that my tip had been behind the whole thing. That little showdown at Race Wars might never had happened if I hadn't told Tanner to go in on Tran. I knew the second I saw Tran on the ground, spitting out blood and fixing Dom's back with that death glare, that something was gonna go down. Apparently public humiliation left a bad taste in Tran's mouth, and Dom might be a bit honorable, but Tran didn't fight fair.

When Mia and I tore off to find Dom and the others, I had a bad feeling in my gut. Revealing who I was to Mia was hard enough, but I figured she'd keep my secret. I'd hoped that we could find Dom before anything happened, but we didn't know where he was going, and by the time we did, Dom had a huge head start on us.

_Yeah…yeah…This is Officer Brian O'Connor…_

Shit, yeah. My life nearly flipped upside down when I had to reveal my secret to Dom. Had to. Vince would've died if I didn't. The sick look that flew across his face might have had something to do with the ease that I spoke in fluent Cop.

You know, even as I was sitting behind Mia and helping her holding down Vince's arm with one hand and held my police issued phone to my ear with the other, I knew I was faced with some serious shit. You don't cross Dom and expect to come out of it smelling like roses. Not unless they're sitting next to your casket inside a funeral home.

I'd talked fast, real fast, and it was mainly to tell the agent on the other end what I was faced with, and partially to give a millisecond by millisecond reminder to Dom about why he shouldn't just kill me where I was.

Oh, he was pissed. He rose in a partial crouch with murder rolling over his face. How I stayed alive until the chopper landed, I don't really know. Maybe Dom figured that he'd see Vinnie safe in the chopper before he did anything.

I stood by the chopper, watching Dom walk off, and bellowing for his sister to get in the damn car. I was lucky that he didn't drive off with the Supra and just leave my ass in the middle of nowhere, but he didn't. The chopper took off, Dom took off, and I made my way back to LA.

_On green, I'm goin' for it…_

Man, I didn't even want to think about what had happened in the time between seeing Jesse being shot, and taking after the two motorcycles. All I knew was that Jesse was one of ours, and he was hurt, and Dom and I would bring them down.

We did, but then I had the task of catching up to Dom and bringing him to justice.

Right?

Shit.

I caught up to him as he waited for me at a red light. He told me that it was a quarter mile from the light to the railroad tracks. He raced it when he was in high school. Damn. I couldn't figure out if he was telling me that to let me in to his life, let me know that he wasn't just a thief, or if he was just flat out telling me what he was gonna do.

We raced and won against a train that was barreling down the tracks. It was close, so damned close, but we made it, and it was as exhilarating as any street race. Maybe more so because our lives had depended on winning.

Then things got a little more shitty when Dom's car was clipped by a truck. When the Charger went airborne over my car, it was one of the most incredible things I'd ever seen. It rolled, landed up right, and when it stopped moving, I pulled the Supra over, darted out of it and ran for the Charger, gun drawn. The gun, why did I still have the damned gun in my hand!

I pocked it, safety on, when Dom started pulling himself out of the car. Shit. It was totaled, and knowing how much work he put into it, I knew Dom was hurting a lot more than the physical injuries. As I helped him out, we could both hear the sirens getting louder.

He stared me down, clutching at his left arm with his right, and facing me with the look that said he clearly knew that I was his jailor and he was my prisoner. And he could've been right.

But he wasn't.

I stared at him and felt my career go down the drain. But it was gone the second I saw him going after Jesse's shooters, when I saw him in the Charger on the crest of that hill. And even more so when he stared me down defiantly a second ago.

I held out the key to the Supra.

_You sure you know what you're doin?_

_I owe you a ten second car._

It wasn't anything more than mutual respect, the fact that I'd hold up on my promise to give him a ten second car.

My cop life vanished the second I handed him the keys. But like I said, I knew I'd do it the second I saw him in the Charger on the top of that hill. The way he'd spun it as if to say, "Come and get me."

How could I just let him do that, knowing the things that he did? It was respect and a shit load more. It was almost a way of trying to make up for the shit I'd inadvertently brought into his life.

I knew it, and so did Dom. The smudge of respect I saw in his eyes didn't erase all of the betrayal he'd felt from my actions, but it helped…a little.

As he sped away, I turned towards the sirens and started walking. The Charger wouldn't give me any sanctuary, and I didn't know if Tanner could, or would, help at all. I had a feeling Bilkins would be more than happy to decorate my wrists with silver bracelets.

So I did what anyone might do in my position.

I ran.

* * *

I might write another Fast and the Furious story. I really enjoy the movies, and I like reading what everyone else has written, and I figured why the hell not try my hand at it.

Hope you enjoyed my story.

Peace,  
Ash


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